Three types of Counterfactual History

The paper starts out by presenting the approach to the history of science based on causal models, discussing the postulation of counterfactual histories of science. Three different types of counterfactual analyses may be done in the historical sciences, all of which have the benefit of hindsight. Ec...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Osvaldo Pessoa Junior
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Universidade de São Paulo 2015-12-01
Series:Intelligere
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.revistas.usp.br/revistaintelligere/article/view/108485
Description
Summary:The paper starts out by presenting the approach to the history of science based on causal models, discussing the postulation of counterfactual histories of science. Three different types of counterfactual analyses may be done in the historical sciences, all of which have the benefit of hindsight. Economic history and history of technology are characterized by their reasonable predictability; history of science and mathematics by their objectivity; and the third class, which includes “virtual history” and biological evolution, because of its vast scope of future possibilities.
ISSN:2447-9020